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Melville's major biography of the Russian impresario brings to life an age of daring sophistication and hedonistic pleasure set against the backdrop of a swiftly changing world. In Paris and London, Diaghilev drew together an amazingly talented group of artists such as Picasso, Bakst and Fokine, as well as dancers like Nijinsky, Lifar and Karsavina, and the composers Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Prokofiev. Diaghilev's destructive and tempestuous affair with his prot_g_ Nijinsky and his friendship with Jean Cocteau are closely examined.